Category Archives: Animation

In the interests of full disclosure I should state that I did back the funding of this film on Kickstarter. I did so as a fan of Bill Plympton’s work and so, if you think I liked this film based on this review I would hope you’d understand that it is as a fan of his films, and not because I backed it. Besides, backing on Kickstarter isn’t the same as investing in a film for profit. It’s pretty much the same as pre-ordering a game or a DVD. Hell, if you view backing a Kickstarter as a show of bias then you must also consider buying a DVD and thus giving money to a studio to further finance films and to monetarily support the film maker as a sign of bias also. I say this because disclosure has been a hot topic recently, and whilst yes, it is important, some people seem to have the wrong idea about what it means. Anyway, here’s my review that is clearly tainted by the money I gave to this film’s production.

Hands up who thought The Lego Movie would turn out good? I didn’t. I saw the charm in the initial trailer, but, kind of expected the film to end up being one of those kids films that end up being a series of dumb jokes wrapped around the most flimsy of stories. I mostly expected it to be a huge advert for Lego toys. Well, it is that. I’m pretty sure many people that have left the film have gone and purchased a Lego set shortly after. I probably would have if I had a spare few thousand pounds to buy what sets I could with that. So, like, one minifig and a small car, right? The Lego Movie represents everything that I should hate about films aimed at children. Its humour is puerile, its filled with nonsense, its a marketing ploy, it has that one catchy song that won’t fecking LEAVE MY HEAD!!!… It’s so frigging awesome. Click the link.

I do like reviewing films aimed at children. They exist as this area of film making that can vary wildly in tone, technique and thematics from one film to the next that it almost seems that any subject could be touched upon. A problem comes up though that when you tackle certain subjects in a children’s film a film maker has to be careful regarding what you can and can’t show. You can do film suitable for kids that tells them it’s OK to be different but you can’t outright have the film say that it’s OK to be gay, for example. Most young kids aren’t ready to tackle a subject like that. So you use other thematics to send the same message. Paranorman is a film that isn’t satisfied with passing just one tough message. It is a film that intends to stick with a child into adulthood by not hiding its subject matter, its themes or by pulling any punches. In many ways it is one of the most daring kid’s films in some time. Click the link for me not glossing over stuff for you.

After realising that the Rescuers Down Under was squashed at the box office by Home Alone I thought it would be good to follow up my last review with that particular Christmas treat. That plan was soon squashed worse that The Rescuers potential financial success when it turned out that not a single TV channel in the UK was showing Home Alone on Christmas Day. There was Home Alone 2 and, apparently, there’s a 5th film now, but not the original entry in the series. So the hunt was on at the 23rd of this month to find a suitable replacement Christmas film. Man the choice was dire this year. Even Die Hard was missing from the Christmas schedule. Thankfully I managed to find a channel showing The Nightmare Before Christmas, and here we are. Click the link below.

Most of the time I plan out what films I’ll be reviewing on here. As a result I’ll only watch films that I plan to review. Sometimes I just watch a random film due to circumstance. Then I have to write a review of that film because that’s the rules around here. This is one of those times. As a lad I had seen both the Rescuers films multiple times over. I still own them both on VHS. I sat down to watch the Rescuers Down Under the other day with little memory of the film itself, but it’s odd how your brain works, because a few minutes into watching this I found I remembered the whole blooming thing. Good job it didn’t suck! Click the link for my review.

Yes, I could have easily split this into two separate reviews and got me a few more ad hits, but that just ain’t how I roll. These two films come together as one complete whole and tell a story that is fully contained within these two parts and the comic it is based on. No, there isn’t a comic called The Dark knight Strikes Again. That never happened. Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns is a comic that fans have wanted to see adapted for years. Apparently Warner entertained the idea in the process of reinventing Batman for cinema audiences after the travesty that was Batman & Robin. It would have been a tough one to pull off seeing as it is among the most brutal Batman stories worthy of adapting. What you’d need is a medium that can get away with a little more and a fan base willing to buy. And that’s where Bruce Timm and his pals at Warner Animation come in. Click the link for my review.

A couple of weeks back… probably more by the time you stumble across this review whilst looking for something else Final Fantasy VII related… I did a post about video game based film adaptations and how they, quite often, suck a load of donkey balls. One such film that I mentioned not being all that great was Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. That film is often derided for being massively off base of what the Final Fantasy games were. Which was pretty amazing seeing as it was made by Square, the makers of the games. Although looking back they sure did think they were the dogs bollocks around then. So, what happens when they not only make a Final Fantasy film that mirrors the games but is actually a sequel to one of the games? Their most highly praised Final Fantasy at that. Click the link for my review which is sure to piss off a few fanboys.